


A Nest for Birds to Sit and Sing

by plinys



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boy Scouts, Gigolas Week, Kid Fic, M/M, aka the "camping au"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2014-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-13 09:30:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1221235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinys/pseuds/plinys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Within hours of arriving that camp, a hierarchy had sorted itself out among the troops, one that put Gimli’s troop near the bottom of the list and Troop 5126 at the top, though that was mostly because they had high-tech GPS’s and went to some fancy prep school that celebrities sent their kids too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Nest for Birds to Sit and Sing

**Author's Note:**

> This is 100% for [Sam](http://generala.tumblr.com/), who when I asked on Tumblr for AU suggestions said a "camping au" before realizing that "all they do in the books is camp." From that I spun this fic, which is like a boy scout camp au, and is super inaccurate, because I never went to boy scout camp! Though I did go to girl scout camp, so it's more like that. 
> 
> Modern AU for Gigolas Week which I sort of forgot was a thing. 
> 
> (Also it's unbeta'd for now, because I'm posting this at 3am before I can regret it.)

It’s not that Gimli doesn’t like camping.

Except he really doesn’t.

He would much rather be back home, helping his ma with dinner or playing video games.

Instead he’s stuck here.  

Scout Jamborees are the dumbest idea ever, something Gimli had insisted repeatedly before he was sent on his way with his cousins to what was supposed to be a fun and exciting weekend. Really it was just an excuse for all the parents in the county to ship their sons off to the same campsite for a while and let them sort things out _Lord of the Flies_ style. Okay, to be fair their troop masters were there to set the rules, but they hardly paid attention once all the boys got together, so it was pretty much chaos.

Within hours of arriving at the camp, a hierarchy had sorted itself out among the troops, one that put Gimli’s troop near the bottom of the list and Troop 5126 at the top, though that was mostly because they had high-tech GPS’s and went to some fancy prep school that celebrities sent their kids too.

It was all terribly stuck up and Gimli could only listen to the rich kids ramble on and on for so long. Just having to sit near them during lunch break had been bad enough and Gimli already knew more than he needed to know. Apparently one of the kids has a famous movie star for a dad, there was a set of twins who had a really rich grandmother who was like the Queen of England or something, and one of the kids seemed to insist that he was going to become a park ranger when he grew up.

Not that Gimli was trying to listen to their conversations or anything, they just talked so loud it was hard not to.

The only good part of the day came when some of his fellow troop mates decided to skip out on the knot tying course they were all supposed to be paying attention to and instead insist that a game of hide and seek would be a much better plan. Gimli had agreed without even looking back.

There was some elaborate game of rock paper scissors played out that apparently involved a lizard or something like that (his cousin, Kili, insisted that it was a real thing and that he had seen in on tv so it had to be true).

It ended up with his other cousin, Fili, being the seeker, while the rest of them were sent off to hide.

There were many things that Gimli was good at, but hide and seek was not one of them. He was a terrible seeker and a pretty bad hider, but as he ducked off into the woods he did have one idea that he was sure nobody would suspect.

There’s a bit of maneuvering involved and honestly, Gimli’s not sure how he’d done it, something which will become a problem once his moment of triumph wears off.

It feels like an eternity passes and the fun of being up in the tree wears off as Gimli decides that he’s going to get down and go find Fili now since he’s taking so long, only to realize that he cannot actually get down.

In that moment Gimli decides that the next person who walks by he’s going to ask for help, should be easy enough, and he keeps expecting out of his cousins to amble by any moment.

Eventually, after what is another hour if the watch around his wrist is anything to go by somebody does appear wandering the forest. He’s humming some sort of song that Gimli is unfamiliar with, but he passes right under Gimli’s tree, which is enough for him to pop his shoe off and drop it on the other boy, which shrieks in surprise. For a moment the other boy stares at the shoe in surprise before finally looking up into the tree from which it came, brightening up when he sees somebody up there.

“You dropped your shoe,” he calls out.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“Why are you up in the tree,” the boy asks, “You’re not supposed to be up there, the camp counselors said so in the rules. Remember.”

Of course Gimli remembered which was why he had thought it would have been a perfect hiding spot. H

He slumps backward against the tree truck and mumbles, “I’m stuck.”

“What was that,” the boy below calls up to him, “couldn’t hear you?”

“I’m stuck,” Gimli says much louder this time, his face heating up as he admits it.

“I can get an adult,” the boy offers with knowing nod.

That would be even worse. He can just imagine, not only would he be teased endlessly by troop mates, but if he got an adult then everybody would find out. Gimli could have died from shame at just the thought of that. He would never live it down.

“I’m fine,” Gimli calls back.

Gimli would just have to figure out a way to get down on his own.

“You’re stuck though,” he points out the obvious.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“It’s not that hard,” he insists, “you got up there didn’t you?”

“Okay, but-“

“Then just come down the same way.”

Gimli groans.

If it was that easy he would have already done it, but every time he looks down he gets this sort of swimming feeling in his head, and it’s a long way down. Suddenly staying up in the tree seems like a much better idea.

“I don’t remember how I got up,” Gimli explains, “I was rushing.”

“Oh,” he replies. There’s a moment where the other boy paces about trying to think of something, before setting Gimli’s shoe down on the forest floor and heading for the tree.

“What are you doing,” Gimli asks.

“Climbing up to help,” he answers, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.

And climb he does, shimming up the tree with absolutely no effort at all and a lot more grace than should really be possible for somebody climbing a tree. Soon enough he’s up there with Gimli shimming up to share his branch, which would seem like an awful idea if the branch wasn’t so think that it could practically be park of the tree’s trunk.

“And now we just,” the boy says, looking down towards the ground before sucking in a breath of his own, “oh no.”

“Can’t get down either,” Gimli asks in a knowing tone.

The look he gets in return is a murderous one.  He suddenly gripped his branch tighter, just in case the other scout decides to act on that impulse and push Gimli from the tree.

“It’s alright,” he tries to be reassuring and placating all at once, “we’ll just wait for the next person.”

“And then we’re getting an adult,” the boy insists, trying to cross his arms over his chest, only to have his balance wobble and instead end up with one hand gripping the branch tightly.

“Fine fine,” he relents, “I’m Gimli, by the way, Gimli Durin.”

“Legolas Greenleaf,” he replies meeting Gimli’s hand with only a slight waver to give it a firm handshake.

He looked the other boy over now that they were both in the stuck in the tree, settling on the insignia on his uniform reading out his troop number. Gimli should have known, he looked more like he belonged in a shopping center than in a campsite, and Gimli took a small bit of satisfaction out of knowing that he was at least partially responsible for one of the prep school boys having their uniforms wrinkled.

Though Legolas for one seems a lot nicer than his troop mates, though first impressions could be deceiving…

At least, it’s nice to have company.

In order to pass the time Legolas decides that they’re going to play some sort of question game, which is really just the blonde interrogating Gimli about every aspect of his life ranging from questions like “what’s your favorite color,” (royal blue for Gimli and green “really Greenleaf, really?” for Legolas) to, “if Scout Jamboree got infected by a zombie virus what weapon would Gimli want to defend himself with,” (Gimli insisting that an axe would obviously be the best and easiest to find around the campsite, while Legolas disagreed and said that they should grab the bows from the archery yard and use them to sniper shoot the zombies).

Somehow during their discussion Gimli admits, “I didn’t even want to come here.”

Legolas doesn’t seem too surprised by his admission, though he simply askes, “why not?”

“I like the indoors and the darkness,” Gimli says with a huff, “not this nature nonsense.”

“Like a vampire,” Legolas giggled, “are you Edward then?”

“No, I’m not,” Gimli groans.

“Cause you know, Edward would have been able to get down from the tree.”

Gimli could have won an award for the strength of the eyeroll that he shot in the other boy’s direction.

“I’m not a vampire.”

“That’s exactly what a vampire would say!”

“I just like four solid walls surround me and stable ground to stand on not trees,” Gimli explains.

“I like trees,” Legolas states, “they’re nice and green, but I didn’t really want to come camping either.”

“Really?”

Legolas nods, “yeah, my dad said I didn’t have to go, but everybody else was going. I didn’t want to be the _one_ kid that didn’t go, you know?”

Gimli nods, he supposes he gets that. If he had gotten his way and had gotten to stay home, he probably would have regretted it when his friends and cousins came back from camp with cool stories about the things they did. Even knowing that they were probably just exaggerations.

“I’m glad I came, though,” Legolas says after a moment.

“Why?”

“Cause I made a new friend,” he smiles, and oh, that would be him, the new friend.

“Me too,” Gimli agrees and watches as that smile turns up a thousand watts brighter.

He finds that with a friend, it’s not so bad being stuck in a tree. It’s actually quite nice.

So much so that when one of the camp counselors come wandering about looking for two lost campers and happens to stumble upon Gimli’s shoe on the forest floor, he wishes that he hadn’t. Not because Gimli is embarrassed about getting stuck or not wanting to get teased by his troop mates, but because it had been nice up there, sort of like they were in a world of their own.

One that seems to completely dissolve once the counselor has gotten a ladder for them to use to get down with and Gimli is ambushed by his cousins, while Legolas is pulled away by the aforementioned twins that glare back in Gimli’s direction, as if his presence had tainted their troop mate.

He does end up getting his fair share of teasing at dinner and between the time of dinner and when all the troops are grouped back together for a camp fire and roasting s’mores thing.

Gimli is in the middle of wedging his more than slightly burnt marshmallow between two graham crackers all while ignoring Kili’s constant ribbing, when a familiar voice interrupts them, with a simple, “hey.”

“Hiya,” he answers back.

“I was wondering if I could roast marshmallows with you,” Legolas says all in a rush, as if afraid that if he doesn’t get the words out quick enough that they’ll get stuck in his through. “Please?”

“Of course,” Gimli answers, “we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes! Of course!”

 


End file.
